Prodigy
by Divergent24
Summary: 'A year ago, I was factionless. Tomorrow I will choose whether to stay or leave my life behind. But for now, I have been trusted with a deadly secret, a secret that could kill me at any moment.' Erin Marigold has had an unusual life with many secrets. She is the Prodigy. The one everyone is out to get. She has been trusted with a secret that everyone will do anything for.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everybody! On my profile I said I was going to upload once I've written the third chapter of this brand new fanfic, but I couldn't wait. Here is my new fanfic, Prodigy, I hope you enjoy it!**

**CHAPTER 1**

Today is the day.

For most people here the most important day of their lives is Choosing Day, where all 16 year olds will choose to either stay loyal, or betray their faction altogether.

But not for us factionless.

The most important day for us is Raffle Day. Raffle Day is held every year, on the other factions Choosing Day, and while it sounds like a fun community event, its far from it.

The names of all the 15 year old factionless people are put into a clear glass bowl. 5 are drawn out. Those five people get to choose, Amity or Abnegation, and they are secretly transported to their chosen faction for a second chance. We are the children of factionless people, so we don't get a chance to attempt initiation and fit into society.

Now you understand the importance of Raffle Day.

I look in the mirror as my mother braids my hair down my back. My reflection shows a small calm girl with long dark blonde hair and clear green eyes, but I feel anything but calm. If my name is not one of those pulled out of the bowl, I am basically a dead girl walking. Homeless. Rejected. Starved, like the rest of the factionless.

My mother ties my hair at the end and stares at me in the mirror.

"You'll be fine." She says. But how would she know? She was once on the other side of life. She was Erudite, but she moved to Dauntless and failed initiation. Just like my father.

I stand up and walk to the door. I look around at all the families sitting and chatting together. All these children who will never fit into society by no fault of their own. I turn back to the door and walk out.

We have to do the raffle underground so that the Erudite can't track us. The only people who know about the Raffle are Amity and Abnegation leaders, not even the faction members know. But the faction leaders kindly took us under their wing, but unfortunately they can't take enough of us. Erudite would find out and I don't want to think about the trouble caused by that. My mother comes up behind me.

"Aren't you going to get breakfast?" She asks. I look at the swarms of people huddled together, sharing food from cans. I'm not hungry, and one less portion could give more food to the children who need it.

"No thanks, I just want to be early." I reply. I walk side by side with my mother down to the very back of the Factionless Compound, or lack thereof, where I find a queue of other 15 year olds already lining up. I wait in line looking down at my clothes. If my name is called out, I will be wearing reds or greys in no time.

I finally get to the front of the line where an old lady with grey hair and piercings up and down her ear sits behind a desk. She must have been kicked out of Dauntless for her age. I see a tattoo on her arm sagging along with her skin.

"Name?" She asks

"Erin Marigold." I say

She says "Next." And my mother and I walk through the doors, down some rough, old, broken steps and into the Auditorium, or at least the closest we get to that. There are some benches made out of scrap material and there is a concrete 'stage' of sorts with chipped edges. The walls are thin and dark paint is peeling off them. The room is quite dark with the only light source coming from lit torches on the walls. I sit down on a plank of wood which is balanced on two rubbish cans. My eyes drift towards the front where there is a pristine 3 legged table, the fourth leg replaced with wood, probably stolen from the Erudite rubbish. On top of the table sits the cleanest and probably most valuable object in our sector, the Raffle Bowl. My mind drifts away as more people fill the empty rows and finally a person steps out onto the stage.

"Welcome everyone" Evelyn Johnson, factionless leader, says "to the Factionless Raffle Day. Now I know you all know what's going on and that you're all eager to discover your fate, so lets get to it." Evelyn steps back towards the bowl, closes her eyes and extends her hand. She reaches deep into the bowl and pulls out a white piece of paper. She unfolds it and reads the name.

"First person, Michael Hansen." I watch as a tall dark-haired boy stands and walks down the steps to the front. He climbs onto the stage and stands next to Evelyn. Evelyn puts her hand into the bowl again.

"Second person, Avery Waters." A blonde girl with long curly hair stands and walks towards the front, smiling. Only three spots left.

"Third person, Courtney Brenson." I see a girl with short black hair clap her hand over her mouth. She hugs her parents for the last time and wipes a tear back with her hand. She slowly walks down to the front and climbs onto the stage. She is so lucky to be chosen, but she seems so unhappy. I know that it would be hard to leave your family, but its worth it if you get a chance to rejoin the community in which we are rejected from.

"Fourth person, Sam Richards." I don't even watch the person walk down. Most of the spots are taken, and I don't like my chances. I am one in many names inside that bowl, and I know deep down that I won't be chosen, but that doesn't stop my stomach from flipping. I've been thinking about this day for so long, dreaming of my name being called, but I know I'll be left disappointed.

"Fifth and final person is." Evelyn says, rummaging around in the bowl before pulling out a single piece of paper. Evelyn looks around, expecting a drum roll, but it doesn't come. The crowd of 15 year olds who are mostly about to have their dreams crushed are eagerly awaiting the final name to be called out. I try to stop my heart from racing, because I know the disappointment will be overwhelming, but I feel like there's still a glimmer of hope flickering inside me, like I know this last name will be mine.

"The final person is, Erin Marigold."


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Thanks to all who are reading! I'd like to dedicate this chapter to ****_Dauntlessgirl347_**** who is my first follower (for this story) anyway here's chapter 2! Please read, review, follow and favourite. I'm open to criticism. Please note this story is unedited so ignore any spelling or grammar errors. I probably should say this so DISCLAIMER: I am not Veronica Roth so I don't own Divergent. Here's chapter 2)**

My body is frozen and the dropping feeling in my stomach is gone. Slowly I stand up. I lean down and hug my mother for the final time.

"Tell father I love him." I say. My mother nods and I walk towards the front. All eyes are set on me. I walk past rows of people who I know overcome with sadness, covering their faces to hide the tears. I know everyone will hate me now. I've ripped their last hopes away from them. But this is a game of luck, and I just happened to have been dealt the winning cards.

I climb up onto the stage and stand next to the tall blonde boy, Sam Richards. I hear Evelyn say something to the audience, but I can't hear. I feel like everything is moving in slow motion and there is a ringing in my ears. I feel fingers lace with mine and my arm is pulled up into the air. Generally you'd expect this kind of victorious gesture to be rewarded with smiles, claps and chants, but here we are staring back at a never-ending crowd of broken hearted people with no place to go. My hand falls to my side and we are ushered out a door into a small white room. I sit down on a bench next to Avery and I look in front of us. Evelyn, a man in grey and a woman in yellow stand in front of us. Evelyn is distancing herself from the Abnegation man.

"Congratulations everyone. You now have a chance to be drawn back within society. But first you must choose, Abnegation or Amity? We will give you three minutes to decide. Once you have decided you will be taken to your respective Compounds and given new clothes, new families and a new name. Your time starts now."

I look down at my palms trying to decide which faction. I had thought about it before, many times before, but every time I thought about it I would always want something different.

The Amity lifestyle seems so careless and free. They are a tight-knit community who are always laughing. They seem so happy, and I could use some fun in my life, but I don't want to have to aspire to becoming a farmer.

The Abnegation way seems so beautiful. Everyone in synchronization, all blended in together and wanting nothing more or nothing less than what they have. They are community servants dedicated to helping us factionless out and I always admired them, but I don't think I could bear seeing my old home everyday knowing what their life is really like.

"Times up." Evelyn says. "Who would like to go first?" I watch as the tall dark-haired boy stands up and walks over to the Abnegation man. The Abnegation man bows his head towards the boy. The girl with short black hair stands up and walks over to the Amity woman. The blonde boy walks over to the Amity woman immediately after Courtney, and that leaves Avery and I. Avery slowly stands up and walks stands in the middle of both leaders. She turns right and walks over to the Abnegation man.

And that leaves me.

I stand up slowly. I know that I'll have to pick sooner or later, and what does it matter? In one year I will get to pick again. I turn to the right, towards the Abnegation man. He bows his head towards me and I return the gesture.

"Thank you Johanna and Mr Eaton." Evelyn almost spits the second name. "You may take your new members now." Avery goes to walk forward but Marcus holds his hand out to stop her. The Amity woman, Courtney and Sam walk out the door.

"You have to be selfless, think of others." The Abnegation man says. He finally steps forward and walks out the door. "Follow me." He says. We follow him out of the compound. I see a truck parked outside but the man turns the other way and starts leading us down the path.

"Um, is there like a car waiting up ahead?" Michael asks.

"No, we walk." The man says. We all walk in silence. I look down at my feet.

"What if we're seen?" I ask

"No one walks down here. The people who went with Amity are given new clothes in the truck so they won't be noticed upon return. You, however, will simply come to my house where you will get changed." He says. "I'm Marcus Eaton, by the way."

We are lead up a path to a grey house. It is exactly like all the other houses, but its further away, and sort of isolated from the rest. He sits us down in the living room.

"First up, names." He says. "Three families are told about the Raffle so that they can host you, but no one else here knows. You must not speak of it, these families themselves are sworn to secrecy, no one can know." He looks at Michael. "Your family's last name is Grey, your name shall be Joshua Grey." He looks at Avery. "Your family's last name is Barclay, your name shall be Natalie Barclay." Avery nods and Marcus finally looks at me. "Your family's last name is Valley, your name shall be Abigail Valley."

Abigail Valley. I like it. Marcus hands out clothes. "Joshua you may get here, Natalie, in the bathroom and Abigail in the spare room upstairs." I stand up and bring my clothes with me upstairs. I walk into the room and see a small grey bed and grey walls. There are no decorations except for a small, blue, water-like sculpture on the desk. I look at it closer. I didn't think that they would be allowed to have decorations considering they're all about blending in, but I don't know much about the factions so how should I know? I get changed into my long grey robes and try to find a mirror, but there isn't one. I walk downstairs and see Avery, well Natalie I guess.

"How do I look?" She asks.

"Um, fine." I say

"I couldn't find a mirror." She says

"We reject vanity. Its supposed to make us thing less of ourselves. The only time you will ever look into a mirror is on the second day of every third month once you receive a haircut." Marcus says. I nod slowly. "Your families will be here soon, just sit until they arrive."

I bite my bottom lip, wondering what it will be like to live in a faction, how will I be able to keep my past a secret?


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry that it took so long for this chapter, I've been WAY to busy. It's really short, so I apologise. I'll try to upload more frequently now, ENJOY!**

I watch as six people come through the door that Marcus holds open for them. They stand in front of Avery, Michael and I.

"Thank you all for coming so promptly." Marcus says. "Mr and Mrs Barclay, this is your daughter, Natalie." I watch as the two adults bow their heads towards Avery and then enclose her into a hug. Her new mother has blonde hair, slightly darker than Avery's. Her father is tall with light brown hair.

"Mr and Mrs Grey, your son, Joshua." They bow their heads towards Michael and embrace him. That leaves me. I look at my new family. My new mother has silky fawn-coloured hair and crystal blue eyes –just like mine.

"Mr and Mrs Valley, your daughter Abigail." I watch them smile and bow their heads towards me. I walk forward and find myself embraced by both of them.

"Well that's it I guess, you can take them home now, maybe try and make them look slightly different, just in case. Have fun." Michael's family walks out first and Marcus tells us to wait five minutes. I wave goodbye to Avery as I slowly walk out of Marcus' house. We walk in silence to my new home and I think about my old family. Before I know it we're walking up the path to my new house.

"So, do you have any children?" I ask

"No, they'd blabber to quickly. Generally they like to pick people who have had trouble with having a child because they are more likely to keep their mouth shut." My new mother tells me. "By the way, my name is Grace, and this is my husband Andrew." They open the door and hold it open for me.

"Now before we show you to your room and show you the house, Marcus had requested that we dye your hair. Come with me." She says. I follow her to a small area in front of a sliding panel. She sits me down and starts touching my hair.

"There we go." She says after a while. She walks over and unlocks the sliding panel. I see a girl with crystal blue eyes and long blonde-fawn coloured hair. My crystal blue eyes look striking. She walks behind me and puts my hair into a tight knot.

"Say goodbye to the mirror." She says. I watch my new reflection slide away and I'm left sitting, dumbfounded, in my new life.


End file.
